Increasing demands on emergency services

"The rising deployment figures show that our firefighters are increasingly challenged. We have to react flexibly, especially in the rescue service, in order to meet the high demand," emphasizes City Councillor Andreas Bauer, Head of Fire and Civil Protection. "Despite the higher numbers last year, we are well positioned. The increase in deployments requires an adapted deployment strategy and possibly additional resources. In order to ensure fast and efficient emergency response in the future, the situation is being analyzed in detail. The aim is to reliably protect the population and provide the best possible care."

The following special operations took place for the fire department in 2024

- The series of fires in allotment garden associations also kept the fire department on its toes. The emergency services had to respond to burning garden sheds on several occasions. On January 1, 2024, three gazebos caught fire at the Schäferbusch allotment garden association. Further fires occurred on January 9 and on February 6 and 7 at the Neuland allotment garden association in Fallersleben.

- There was a large-scale operation on April 7 with two fires in a high-rise building on Rabenberg. Around 200 firefighters were on site. Five people were injured. 52 residents were evacuated and 36 apartments had to be closed.

- An animal rescue on the highway on May 1 was spectacular. Firefighters rescued 13 wild geese each from highway 39 and Mörser Knoten. In the second operation, they succeeded in scaring the animals away for good.

- There were numerous traffic accidents, some of them serious, and several fatal accidents to which the fire department responded. On May 21, there was a fatal accident between Allerbüttel and Sülfeld and on September 23, there was another on the B188 federal highway near Warmenau. One person died in both incidents. On December 4, seven people were injured in an accident on state road 290 at the north-eastern end of Wendschott.

- Another major fire occurred on August 7 in the city center, where a restaurant on Poststrasse was engulfed in flames. Here, 106 firefighters battled the blaze.

- A city-wide civil protection exercise took place on August 31. As part of the "Civil Protection Lighthouses" exercise, the emergency of a so-called blackout, a city-wide power failure, was simulated. A total of 38 emergency locations were set up and tested to ensure communication and supply in the event of a power and mobile phone failure.